• Korea Trade Review
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.273-288
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• 2022

This study first classifies and organizes provisions on institutional arrangements (or IAs) and dispute settlement mechanism(or DSM) in a digital trade agreement. Then it conducts a case study on seven major digital trade agreements: the CPTPP, the USJDTA, the USMCA, the ASDEA, the RCEP, the KSDPA, and the DEPA. And it finally derives implications for Korea to improve implementation of DTAs by communicating better and resolving disputes efficiently with the help of IAs and DSM-related provisions. IAs of a digital trade agreement can be defined as a set of agreements on the division of the respective responsibilities of agencies involved in implementing and enforcing the agreement, including committees, working groups, or contact points. DSM of a digital trade agreement includes consultation, mediation, arbitration, and establishment of a panel. Comparing six FTAs with an e-commerce chapter, the CPTPP, the USMCA, and the RCEP contain the most advanced type of IA provisions while the CPTPP, the USMCA, the RCEP, and the KSDPA have that of DSM provisions. Korea is its initial stage as it has only signed the KSDPA with Singapore as well as it is about to launch a new digital trade negotiation for the DEPA, the CPTPP, and even the IPEF, it is necessary to engage in negotiations with a clearer position on behalf of Korean digital companies. As provisions on IAs and DSM are important policy tools that can reflect industry concerns and convey proposals in inter-governmental dialogue, a Korean draft of the IAs and DSM-related provision should be prepared in advance.

• Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.331-348
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• 2011

Recently, international society strongly concerns global green house effect. As a result each nation introduces green policy for their economy and sustainable development. The emissions of carbon dioxide come from various sources, such as ports and port activities. Especially, port is a logistics hub for shipping, road and railways. Therefore, successful reduction of emissions in the port may encourage other transportations to reduce emissions. Korea as developing country is excused from Annex I countries which committed themselves to reduce four greenhouse gases. However, Korea is going to be placed in Annex I countries in 2013. Korean economy is heavily dependent on international trade and especially, 99.8% of its international trade cargoes is transported through the ports. Therefore, Eco-port plays a very important role in future Korean sustainable development. By introducing the most advanced port pollution regulations, Japan has taken a immediate step for Eco-port policy. International trade is very significant in Korea as well as in Japan, both nations have similar industrial structure. Therefore, Korea should pay attention to Japanese Eco-port policy and activities. This paper examines Japanese Eco-port policy and its' implications in order for Korea to find the most efficient way to reduce the emissions as Korea should reduce greenhouse gas emissions in post kyoto system.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.55-72
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• 2020

Purpose - In this paper, we provide recommendations for Korea's long-term direction and strategic measures to attract inward foreign direct investment (FDI) in response to Japan's export regulations. In doing so, we analyze the current situation and characteristics of trade between Korea and Japan, focusing on the parts and materials industry, which is particularly affected by Japan's trade regulations. Design/methodology - Based on the analysis of five successful inward FDI cases (e.g. Toray, IGK, Delkor, GlobalWafers, DuPont) and statistic trend review in the parts and materials industry, we consider various factors pertaining to successful inward FDI in Korea and propose valuable investment attraction strategies. Findings - For a successful investment attraction strategy, we studied some statistical trends in the internal and external environments of the parts and materials industry and successful investment attraction cases in Korea. We have found that in order to increase the probability of success in attracting investment, we need a mid-to long-term strategy considering multiple factors such as "Production-oriented, Demand-linked, Global Value Chain (VGC) linked, and Policy-linked investment attraction." Originality/value - We suggest several specific measures and important strategic implications for the Korean government and firm's managers to attract inward FDI successfully.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.147-160
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• 2022

This study aim to use the GTAP model to analyze the impact of RCEP Fermentation in the Korean manufacturing industry by quantifying the RCEP tariff commitment table. The research results show RCEP has boosted output in all sub-manufactures except wood and printed matter due to increased export volumes. Wood products, on the other hand, are more reliant on imports due to lower production due to lower domestic sales or overall exports. After RCEP came into effect, the import and export scale of Korea's manufacturing industry expanded effectively. Among them, the positive impact on the intensive low-tech manufacturing industries such as clothing and leather products, wood products and printing products, and food, beverage and tobacco products is greater than the positive impact on the technology-intensive medium and high-tech and high-tech manufacturing industries. And found that the growth rate of Korea's manufacturing trade is basically proportional to the tax reduction rate of RCEP. Finally, in order to promote the development of the manufacturing industry, some suggestions are put forward that need the government's policy support and strengthen the regional cooperation with RCEP member countries.

• Journal of Convergence for Information Technology
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• v.11 no.10
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• pp.93-100
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• 2021

With the spread of digital trade, the share of digital trade under the global trade environment is increasing. However, since there is no international digital trade standard, the discussion to establish a new trade rule has important significance. Countries around the world are implementing digital trade policies in consideration of their own interests, but different regulatory policies are causing trade conflicts. In order to provide safeguards against personal information infringement due to the free movement of data across borders, major countries around the world have taken measures to localize data, and the EU has enacted GDPR. And the United States regards the imposition of the digital tax as a trade barrier, and some countries oppose the implementation of the digital tax for fear of negative impact on their countries. However, discussions on the global digital tax, centered on the OECD and the G20 are making progress. As it is highly likely that a digital tax agreement will be drawn up within this year, countermeasures must also be prepared. Therefore, this study presents implications for the future direction of Korea's trade policy by examining recent trends in digital trade norms and analyzing major issues in digital trade.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.173-201
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• 2020

As the US's trade deficit with China and China's manufacturing industry has risen rapidly, the US has begun to regulate trade items as part of China's checks. Four rounds of reprisal measures have greatly altered the trade structures of both countries. In particular, Korea, which is highly dependent on the US and China, has been directly affected by US-China trade disputes. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of US-China trade disputes on the stock price of Korean export firms by performing an event study. This study analyzed stock price fluctuations for 7 days before and after entry into forced [Please check] retaliatory tariffs on Korean exporters' export items subject to retaliatory tariffs. According to the analysis results, among companies that produce goods with major tariffs imposed on China by the US, such as electronic appliances, semiconductors, machinery, and automobiles, those producing electronics and semiconductor products were positively affected by the tariff incident. Secondly, among the companies producing steel, chemicals, and machinery, which the main tariffs imposed by the United States, companies producing steel and chemicals were negatively affected by the incident due to the stagnation of trade between China and the US. The results of this study suggest future trade policy directions for Korea and help to establish an export strategy for major industries.

• STI Policy Review
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.27-53
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• 2013

Technology research and development (R&D) expenditures have increased as most countries recognize that technological innovation is a significant factor for continued economic growth. R&D subsidies by governmental entities were permitted in accordance with the Subsidy and Countervailing Measure (SCM) Agreement under the World Trade Organization (WTO) system. However, according to Article 31 of the SCM Agreement the provision for R&D subsidies have been terminated as of January 2000 and legal disputes over R&D subsidies are likely to increase. The aircraft industry has been the only industry where R&D subsidies have become an issue under the WTO. This paper examines international trade disputes within the aircraft industry in regards to measures by Canada and bilateral disputes between the U.S. and the European Communities (EC). In these cases, various R&D subsidies on civil aircraft are found to be inconsistent with WTO rules. This study summarizes the WTO decisions on various R&D subsidies disputed in the aircraft cases and examines the type of R&D subsidies found to be inconsistent (or consistent) with the WTO to provide guidelines for current and future R&D subsidy policies in high-tech industries. The Canada-Aircraft case indicates that R&D subsidies directly targeted towards near market R&D projects with a high export potential will likely be in violation of current WTO rules. Furthermore, findings from the EC-Aircraft and the U.S.-Aircraft cases suggest that the forms (or the methods) of R&D subsidy distribution were not a sufficient condition for the WTO ruling; instead, what ultimately mattered was whether and specifically to whom the benefits of the R&D subsidies are conferred by the government entities.

• International Commerce and Information Review
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.181-204
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• 2007

Trade Portal Site(TPS) is one of the innovative skills which makes it possible for small and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs) to manage international trade activities more efficiently by using the newest information and telecommunication technology. Based on performance and an existing research related to using information technology, this research analyzed the user's degree of utilization of TPSs which moderates effects between SMEs characteristics and export performance of SMEs. According to the results of the empirical study on actual data of 194 sample firms by using moderated regression analysis, there are significant only organizational characteristics among determinants(such as organizational characteristics, export characteristics) as the degree of utilization of TPSs. These research results provide many useful insights to the CEOs of SMEs using the services of TPSs, e-Trade system developers, and government policy makers. First, CEOs and managers of SMEs should have thorough understanding of the importance of the new information technology and e-Trade and positively adopt new e-Trade solutions and systems to their export processes to enhance global competitiveness. Second, TPS managers and e-Trade systems developers must concentrate on improving the user's degree of utilization of TPSs. Finally, the government agency should develop the various e-Trade promotion policies to support the efforts of SMEs organizational characteristics and TPS to increase the degree of utilization of TPS, which have positive effects on the export performance of SMEs.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.58-73
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• 2021

Purpose - In the context of economic globalization and the continuous development of international trade, as countries around the sea peninsula, port construction is particularly important. Based on the research on the influencing factors of port logistics development based on the allocation analysis, QCA (Qualitative Comparative Analysis) provides the basis for the planning and policy of port logistics development and has important theoretical value and practical significance for improving the level of port logistics management, reducing logistics operating costs and increasing economic benefits. In the tide of global integration for the development of port logistics, promote the growth of foreign trade economy of the city. It is also of great significance to the development and progress of commerce and trade. Design/methodology - Based on the relevant data samples of various ports in South Korea, this paper uses fsQCA (fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis) to integrate and analyze the influence mechanism of port logistics development and extracts five influencing factors of port logistics development, including the port's scale and infrastructure in the hard environment, port-neighboring enterprises in the soft environment, hinterland economy and government support. Findings - The five factors are unable to separately constitute the necessary and sufficient conditions of port logistics development, only a combined model can influence lake port logistics development. The scale and infrastructure of the port itself and port-neighboring ring enterprises are the main core conditions, which work together on the port, affect the throughput capacity of the port, and promote the development of port logistics. When the port-neighboring enterprises are not complete and the scale is low, the growth of port throughput will be restrained and the development of port logistics will be affected, whether the hinterland economic benefits are general, the development of port-neighboring enterprises is insufficient, or the government supports are limited. Originality/value - Through the research on the development of port logistics in South Korea from the perspective of configuration, this paper finds the configuration influence of hard environment and soft environment on the development of port logistics, which has important theoretical and practical significance for better promoting the development of port logistics in South Korea.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.24 no.8
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• pp.19-38
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• 2020

Purpose - The Korean government has been promoting the New Southern Policy (NSP) prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which damage global value chain (GVC). The purpose of this paper is to emphasize that the NSP should be developed to provide tangible support in corporate GVC adjustment, away from diplomatic activities in order to offset GVC losses due to COVID-19 and expand export capabilities. Design/methodology - Two research methodologies are combined for this paper: A computational general equilibrium (CGE) model is used to estimate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and NSP on Korea's exports, and the decomposition methodology (Wang, Wei and Zhu, 2013) to evaluate the stability of GVC. The conventional CGE model was modified to obtain an estimate for decomposition. The research methodology adopted in this study was attempted for the first time, and it can be widely used in future GVC research. Findings - Results found the effects of COVID-19 reduced Korea's total exports by 27% and GVC by more than 30%. In particular, VA in Korea's exports to the NSP region was found to have a huge impact in heavy industries and textiles, and its exports to Vietnam seemed to suffer the largest loss in GVC among ASEAN countries. If the NSP is implemented properly, it appears that it could offset much of the negative impacts of COVID-19, implying the importance of the effectiveness of the NSP. Originality/value - Many papers have assessed the NSP descriptively, and the GVC has been a topic for many publications. However, the impact of COVID-19 on Korea's GVC with the NSP countries has not been quantitatively studied. This paper emphasizes that the NSP should be pursued based on the results of quantitative analysis. In addition, the research methodology of this paper can be used for other GVC research with relevant modifications.